General Atlantic acquires India's Karvy Computershare

The size of the transaction was not disclosed, although several Indian media outlets reported that the private equity firm would pay INR15 billion ($236 million) for a majority stake. C. Parthasarathy, the founder, will retain a minority interest and become chairman of the board of directors. Computershare said in a filing it would receive post-tax proceeds of approximately $90 million from the sale.

Established in 1995, Karvy Computershare became a joint venture between Karvy Group and Computershare Limited in 2004. It provides investor and issuer services for the asset management industry and Indian corporations, with over 5,500 professionals servicing more than 90 million investor accounts through a network of 200 branches. Clients include India’s National Pension Scheme, for which the company is the official central record-keeping agency.

Computershare generated INR2.79 billion in revenue from India in 2016, up from INR2.66 billion the previous year. Of the 2016 total, INR2.1 billion came from business services, with register maintenance and corporate actions accounting for INR592.7 million and INR100.4 million, respectively. Computershare’s global revenue for the year was $1.97 billion, of which Asia – including India – contributed $124.4 million.

“India’s asset management and corporate shareholders' service sectors are poised for rapid growth and continued development, supported by a number of compelling secular trends. We believe Karvy Computershare will remain a partner of choice for Indian asset managers and corporates, given its extensive expertise and market-leading suite of services,” Sandeep Naik, managing director and head of India and Asia Pacific at General Atlantic, said in a statement.  

In its next phase of growth, Karvy Computershare will seek to expand and enhance its portfolio of services to meet the evolving needs of its customers. General Atlantic is expected to help it make further strategic investments with a view to achieving organic and inorganic growth.

The private equity firm has been active in India since 1999 and concentrates on five sectors: financial services, technology and the internet, business services, retail and consumer, and healthcare. Current investments in the country include Billdesk, CitiusTech, House of Anita Dongre, IIFL Wealth, Mu Sigma, National Stock Exchange, and PNB Housing Finance. The latter went public last November.

Mape Advisory Group was Karvy Computershare’s financial advisor on the deal - which still requires regulatory approvals - while Shardul Amarchand provided legal counsel. General Atlantic was supported by AZB & Partners on the legal side.

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